'Long Island Medium' gets into the spirit of show

ATLANTA — Not since John Edward has a medium taken the country by storm the way Theresa Caputo has since her TLC show "Long Island Medium" debuted a year ago.

Her reality program is a blend of day-to-day life with her family, spontaneous readings to strangers on the street and more formal connections with the dead for clients who request them. She's loud and gregarious, with gravity-defying hair and fabulous shoes, a Yankee version of TV host Nancy Grace.

Caputo has started doing theater shows, doing live readings. She's already netted a Priceline commercial and a skit making fun of her on "Saturday Night Live." We talked last week:

Q: What did you think of the "SNL" sketch about you?

A: I thought it was hilarious. They did it perfectly. My only thing: They didn't get my hair high enough!

Q: I read that you started speaking to spirits at age 4. Did you realize you were special?

A: I thought it was normal. Then my friends started telling me it wasn't normal, that only crazy people heard voices. So I started blocking them out. I suffered a lot of anxiety. Only later in life did I realize I was communicating with spirits.

Q: How old were you?

A: I was 28. I went through a process of, "Who am I? Why was I chosen?"

My higher power told me this was my journey in the physical world. This was my purpose. I put all my fears in God's hands. It was just amazing. For 12 years, I've been building my business through word of mouth. I didn't have a website. Even before the show started on TLC, I was booked for two years and had a waiting list.

Q: What do you say to skeptics?

A: I totally respect skeptics. I get it. They don't have to believe in what I do. I just want a skeptic to experience it before they start judging me.